Brothers: Snow Day
by Rivan Warrioress
Summary: Sequel to Brothers. Callen, Deeks, Sam and Kensi are sent to the mountains for a mission, but an unexpected storm blows in, leaving the team stranded.
1. Chapter 1

"Have I told you that I hate the cold," Probationary Special Agent Marty Deeks of NCIS told the rest of his team as he looked out of the window of the helicopter.

"Yes," Sam groaned.

"Many times," Kensi pouted, hitting her partner on the arm. Deeks rubbed where she'd hit him, but for once stayed quiet, looking out the window once more. From where he sat G smirked and shook his head at his younger half brother's antics. A few months had passed since Deeks had been rescued from the warehouse, and he'd finally agreed to become an agent. Once the former detective had sufficiently recovered from his injuries, and had solidified his relations with the rest of the team, Hetty had sent him off to train at FLETC. Now, though, Deeks was back with his team, having completed the classroom based subjects, and would now do the rest of the course through experience, learning on the job what being an agent was about, and communicating via email with his teachers back at Quantico.

The team had been sent by Hetty to the mountains, where a retired Special Forces soldier named Simon Everett lived. Several other members of his unit had been killed in LA, and Hetty had been worried that the soldier would be targeted. The team had found out the unit had been involved in a highly sensitive mission that, if the details were revealed to the wrong person could compromise the location of a large weapons cache, including enough guns to arm a small army, and a few larger, more dangerous items, such as rocket launchers, and bomb making materials. Steps had been taken to move the cache to another, more well protected area, but Hetty had sent her team up to see if whoever it was that was targeting the unit had taken out the retired soldier.

The only problem was that the man lived near the top of a mountain, in thick wilderness. At the best of times it was difficult to access, requiring a four wheel drive, and then a lengthy walk. Now, though it was the depths of winter, and although the weather had been mild, here in the mountains heavy snow had fallen, making the roads impossible to use, and forcing the team to use the helicopter to get them to a clearing close to the soldier's cabin, and then walking the rest of the way.

"We're coming in for landing now, try and be as quick as possible, there's a storm coming in that looks pretty nasty, and I do not want to be caught out here when it hits." The helicopter pilot said as the approached a clearing

"You got it," Sam replied as they got their bags ready to quickly disembark from the helicopter. The helicopter began to drop towards the snow covered ground, and once it touched down on the snow the Callen jumped out, his feet sinking into the snow. He was glad that Hetty had gotten them to wear ski clothes, in order to make sure that they stayed warm, because he knew that if he was wearing ordinary shoes his socks and shoes (and feet) would be soaking wet and freezing cold already. He glanced over his shoulder as Deeks hesitated in the doorway of the helicopter, before Sam rolled his eyes and pushed the younger man out of the helicopter. Deeks crinkled his nose.

"It's cold," he announced, before getting out of the way so that Kensi could jump down. Once the team were all prepared Callen checked his GPS, and began to walk towards the Soldier's cabin, the wind dying down around them the further away from the helicopter's slowing blades they got.

It was a lengthy walk, made longer by the rugged terrain, and the worsening weather. Callen was in the lead, and they followed after him in single file. They were quiet, even Deeks had fallen silent, concentrating on not tripping over on any hidden logs beneath the snow. Soon even Sam and Callen were feeling a little puffed, and were glad when the soldier's wooden cabin came into view.

"Now that is a sight for sore eyes." Deeks smiled as they approached the cabin. Callen couldn't help but agree as they approached the building.

"Guys," Kensi said in a low voice, pointing at the cabin's door. The lock was splintered, and the door had obviously been kicked in. Within moments the entire team had their guns in their hands, their approach of the house becoming much more cautious. Sam approached the front door, wincing as the front step creaked, before kicking the door open and entering the building.

"NCIS," Callen called, following at Sam's heels. Kensi and Deeks, having walked a perimeter around the cabin and finding no other exit, entered the building as well. The four agents spread out searching the building. They found no trace of the soldier, until Kensi and Deeks headed down into the basement of the small cabin. Here, lying in a pool of blood, was Everett, shot through the back of his head.

"There's no one else here, obviously whoever did this is long gone," Sam reasoned.

"I wouldn't say that," Callen argued as he crouched beside the body, "his body isn't cold enough. He's only been dead for an hour or two." The rest of the team fell silent as they thought about the implications of Callen's discovery. The killer, or potentially the killers, were undoubtedly still in the area.

"Deeks, call Hetty," Callen ordered. Deeks already had his phone out and had hit his speed dial.

"I've got no signal. The mountains must be blocking it. Does anyone else?" Deeks reported. The rest of the team checked their phones.

"I've got nothing," Kensi shook her head.

"Damn," Sam swore, obviously finding that he had the same issue. Callen checked his phone, and scowled. He too had no signal.

"Right, Sam and I will go back and use the radio in the helicopter to tell Hetty what is going on. You two stay here and secure the crime scene," Callen ordered. The rest of the team nodded, and Sam followed G out into the snow. They kept their guns dawn as they moved, retracing their steps through the snow back towards the clearing where the helicopter had landed.

They were almost there when gunfire echoed around the woods around them,. Both of the agents dropped down to the ground defensively; however it become apparent that the shooters were not shooting at them, but rather towards the clearing their helicopter was in. Keeping low to the ground Callen and Sam hurried through the trees until they could see the helicopter and the individuals that were shooting at it. Three men with high powered machine guns had opened fire of the helicopter, leaving uncountable holes in the machine. Callen felt his heart clench briefly when he saw the blood splatter on the shattered windscreen of the aircraft, knowing that their pilot was almost certainly dead, shot either directly, or by a stray bullet.

"Stop, Federal Agents," Sam yelled, emerging from the tree he had been sheltering behind. Callen followed his partners lead, emerging with his gun drawn. Yje men turned, and opned fire upon the agents. Sam and Callan, however, were ready for the frosty reception, and they both fired their guns. The three men fell, killed by the accuracy of Sam and Callan's shooting.

G hurried over to the bodies, kicking the guns away from the bodies and checking to see if any of them shooters had survived. While he was doing that Sam hurried over to the helicopter to check on the pilot. Sam shook his head sadly as he felt the man's neck. There was no pulse.

The helicopter itself, too, was badly damaged, and the long range radio had been shot out. Sam was reasonably sure that none of the team knew how to fly an helicopter, but Sam knew enough about engines and machines to know that the helicopter might not make it off the ground.

"The pilot's dead, and the radios been shot out." Sam told Callen as the other agent approached him.

"We've got incoming too," Callen said, pointing at the sky. Sam squinted, frowning as he saw the dark, omnibus clouds approaching the mountain range.

"We need to head back to the cabin. At least there we'll be able to stay warm until this blows itself out," Sam suggested. Callen nodded, and they collected what useful equipment they could carry form the helicopter, and began to hurry back towards the cabin. With the obvious rumble of thunder in the distance the two Agents found that they were able to make the journey in the quickest time possible.

By the time the two senior agents reached the clearing with the cabin the temperature had noticeably dropped, and the rumble of thunder was increasing in volume. They pushed open the door to the cabin, letting themselves in, before closing it with a snap. Kensi and Deeks emerged from the basement, guns in hands.

"Oh, it's just you guys," Kensi smiled, visibly relaxing.

"What did Hetty say?" Deeks asked, tucking his gun back into its holster.

"Nothing, we didn't get to talk to her." Callen shrugged walking further into the cabin.

"There were guys shooting up the helicopter when we got there. We shot them all, but our pilot was already dead and the radio and controls had been shot out. There was no way we would have been able to contact Hetty with that.

"So...what do we do?" Kensi asked.

"The storm has come in really quickly...there is no way a rescue helicopter is going to get launched in this. We're sheltered here; we'll stay here until the storm passes, and then Hetty will send in search and rescue, probably." Callen told them. Kensi nodded, smiling. Sam and Callen knew she was thinking about how she used to go camping with her dad. Only Callen noticed the frown on his younger brother's face, but knew that Deeks wouldn't want his feeling discussed in front of Sam or Kensi.

Despite how long they had worked together as a team G knew that Deeks still thought that Sam didn't think he deserved his place on the team, and was endlessly trying to earn the former SEALs approval and acceptance. It had only been after he had learned about how he and Marty shared a father that Callen had realised how insecure Deeks was, and Callen had resolved from that moment that he would try to support his little brother, and make him know how much he was appreciated by the rest of the team.

"Right, Sam and I will go and collect firewood, you two look around and see if you can find anything that will be useful." Callen delegated. The rest of the team nodded, and they split up. Sam and G went back outside and found a wheelbarrow and a wood shed, and began to load the dry logs into the wheelbarrow to be transported into the house.

"This was not how I planned to spend the next few days," Sam huffed, his breath coming out in wispy puffs of warm air, "I couldn't think of anything worse than being stuck in a cabin with Deeks. No offence, Callen, but you know he's going to whine."

Callen couldn't deny that Sam had a good point. When something minor was bothering him Deeks did tend to go on about it. It was only when something was really bothering him that Deeks clammed up. As Callen said to Jethro Gibbs the last time they spoke, when Callen told the team leader of the NCIS D.C office Major Crime response team about his new found little brother, Deeks would never shut up about a paper cut, but the time that Deeks got shot, or when he'd been kidnapped and injured by Dirty cops from LAPD, Deeks didn't say anything about the amount of pain he was in.

Gibbs had been un-sympathetic, and congratulated Callen on having his very own DiNozzo on the team and in his family. G had never met Gibbs' Senior field Agent, but Jethro spoke very highly of him.

"I'll try and make sure he doesn't get too annoying," Callen told Sam, who nodded.

"What do you think Hetty's doing right now?' he asked. Callen paused, thinking of the woman who was the closest thing to a mother he...and Deeks, had.

"She'll be pretty pissed that she can't contact us," he relied, wincing as he thought of how she would be acting towards Eric and Nell. His heart lightened, however, as he thought of Nell. He hoped she wasn't too worried about them. They were all experienced Agents, after all. A night or two in the snow wouldn't be a big deal. They had plenty of food, thanks to the supply of canned food that Everett had built up, and they had access to dry wood, so they would be able to keep themselves warm.

The only thing that could cause problems is the team being trapped together. The advantage of the way the team worked was that the only time they spent all their time together was when they were doing paperwork. At other times, like during cases, they would be working in their respective partnerships, Sam and G, Deeks and Kensi. Even in between cases there were ways to be alone. They could go to the gym or the shooting range, or just got to the boat shed, or even go home. Here, in the middle of nowhere, there wouldn't be these options, and G knew that it wouldn't take long for cabin fever to settle in.

NCIS: LA

Deeks carried the large stack of blankets he had found into the main room of the house, watching as Kensi looked through the cans of food Everett had stored in various cupboards.

"Does this feel wrong to you?" he asked. Kensi looked up at him, a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean?' she asked.

"I mean, I know Everett's dead, but we're still going to be using his stuff, and he's still going to be in the house. Doesn't this count as destroying a crime scene?"

Kensi shrugged, "well, we've sealed the basement as a crime scene, and we've taken photographs, so that's the best we can do. As for the food, well, you can not eat the food if it's too much for your conscience, but don't whinge to me when you get hungry, and I won't worry about you when you collapse and die due to starvation."

"We're not going to be out here that long, are we?" Deeks asked nervously.

Kensi smirked, "It depends on how soon the storm passes, but it'll be a few days, I think. The weather is supposed to be bad in L.A. for the next few days, so it's going to be horrid up here."

Deeks groaned and turned around, "sorry, dude," he said as he passed the closed door that led to the basement, "but I think I'm going to have to take advantage of your hospitality. I don't particularly want to starve to death, if it's okay with you."

Shaking her head slowly at Deeks' back as the former detective Kensi went back to sorting through the cans of food. While she too didn't feel comfortable about what they would have to do, it was a matter of survival.

Wrinkling her nose Kensi began to restock food, putting the cans of baked beans to the back as a last resort. She didn't want to have to live with three guys who were living off baked beans when there was nowhere else for her to escape to. Especially when she considered that they would be relying on a fire to keep warm. She let out a low laugh as she thought of a joke she had learned back in elementary school. Why did the dinosaurs become extinct? Because man created fire.

"What are you so chipper about?" Deeks asked, having returned form the back room of the cabin. Kensi jumped violently.

"Nothing," she said quickly, finishing off her task. Deeks grinned; knowing that he'd got Kensi off her guard, but didn't say anything. He didn't want to anger Kensi when there would be no escape. If Deeks managed to piss Kensi off then G and Sam would be angry with him too because they would also have to deal with the female agent on the team.

"That's all the blankets I could find," Deeks told her, putting the new stack with the ones that he had already collected. Do you think that it will be enough?"

Kensi pursed her lips at the stack. It was difficult to judge, but with the fire going, they should be alright...she hoped. She didn't particularly want to have to resort to snuggling with the rest of the team in order to keep warm.

"I think so," she said. Deeks frowned at the pile, but something out the window caught his eye, and he dashed over to it.

"Hey, Kensi, look!" he said, pointing out the window excitedly. Kensi rolled her eyes and walked over to the window, a smile flickering over her face as she watched snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

"It's snowing" Deeks said.

'Yes, obviously," Kensi replied dryly, "did you not see all the snow on the ground when we were hiking up here?"

Deeks shrugged and went back to watching the snow as it fell. Kensi shook her head at his childish fascination.

"Geeze, Deeks, anyone would think you've never been to the snow before," she said teasingly, before she began to set the fire, using the stack of small twigs, leaves and bark that sat in a compartment in the wall near the fireplace. It took a moment for Kensi to register the silence from the other side of the room, and looked over her shoulder. Deeks was still gazing out the window, but the smile had left his face. A sadness had crept into the other agent's eyes. Kensi frowned.

"Deeks?" she asked softly, getting back up and approaching him, brushing her hands on her pants as she went, "what's wrong?" she asked. Deeks remained silent and motionless, and Kensi felt worry building up within her. Reaching out she took Deeks' hand, surprised at how cool it was to touch.

"Deeks, are you okay?" she asked. Deeks blinked.

"My dad never took us to the snow. I asked him every year, but he'd just tell me to shut up, or hit me, and then walk away. After...after he was arrested my mom promised that one day she would take me to the snow, but she had to work heaps back in those days just to make sure we had enough to eat. Finally we were going to go, but then she got sick...that was the winter she died. After that I stopped caring about coming up here, and focused on surfing and school instead." When Deeks spoke there was a flat tone to his voice, and Kensi could feel the density of the emotions behind it. She tightened her grip of Deeks' hand.

"Come on," she said, tugging on it slightly. Deeks turned his face towards her, and Kensi could see the tears Deeks was fighting control. She reached out and wiped away the solitary tear that escaped with her thumb.

"My dad took me to the snow every year. We went skiing and sledding, and when I was fourteen he taught me how to snowboard. It was my favourite part of winter. For awhile after he died I didn't go back, but one day I decided that he wouldn't have wanted me to have stopped doing something I loved just because he wasn't there. Now, every winter, I go to the snow and do all the things that we used to do together."

Deeks smiled at her recollection, "It sounds like you two had a great time," he told her. Kensi smiled and nodded.

"We did, now come on, let's go."

"Go where? There's nowhere for us to go" Deeks asked.

Kensi smirked and glance over at the door that led outside, pulling Deeks towards it. The former detective put up no resistance as Kensi opened the door up and led him outside, closing the door once they were through. The pair stood in front of the cabin for a moment, before they caught sight of Sam and Callen working on the woodheap through the softly falling snow. Deeks went to call out to them, but Kensi's hand over his mouth stopped him. He looked down at his partner, his heart skipping a beat as he saw the mischief that shone in her eyes. . He watched as she crouched and gathered a ball of snow in her hands, carefully shaping it into a ball. Deeks bit his lip as Kensi inched through the snow, before she took aim and threw the snow ball as hard as she could...

Splat!

Right into the back of Sam's head

NCIS:LA

Sam and Callen were loading up the wheelbarrow for what they hoped would be the last time when Callen noticed Kensi and Deeks come outside. He saw Kensi cover Deeks' mouth, and shoot him a warning glance. Sam had his back to the pair, so he didn't know they were there, so Callen said nothing and carried n as if nothing had changed, only able to hide his smile by using the skills he had picked up through his work. He lost control, however, when he heard the splat made by Kensi's snowball making contact with the back of Sam's bald head. Sam swore loudly and spun around drawing his gun, out of instinct, only to discover Deeks staring at him with a wide eyed, innocent and rather shocked look on his face, and Kensi doubled over in laughter.

"Very funny," Sam growled as Deeks lost it and started laughing too. Callen couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face.

"And you're encouraging them," Sam pouted. Callen shook his head.

"I had nothing to do with it," he proclaimed.

"I'm sure," Sam said as he finished loading the last of the wood, before he turned his back of Callen, leaving his partner to wheel the wheelbarrow over to the cabin so the wood could be stacked under the eaves near the door.

"Right, I hope they know this means war." Sam frowned, and scooped up a ball of snow.

"Deeks, run!" Kensi yelled, running back towards the cabin. Deeks followed her lead, and they both ducked behind the safety of the building, leaving the snowball to harmlessly hit the building.

Callen shook his head, "please tell me you missed on purpose," he said to Sam, who smirked in answer. Callen shook his head as Sam ducked the snowball Kensi sent his way, before sending his own one towards the younger team members, this time hitting Deeks in the face with enough force to knock the blonde surfer off his feet. Callen snorted in amusement as he finished stacking wood as Deeks jumped back up, brushing snow off his jacked, his face pink where the snowball had hit it. Sighing as he felt the bitterly cold wind tugging at his clothes, and not really wanting to risk any of his teammates getting sick, Callen walked to the door.

"Come on, the storms about to hit. You kids can play in the snow after the storm is over." G called. Deeks dove for the door, rubbing his arms.

"Good, it's cold out there," he told G as he passed over the threshold of the cabin. Sam and Kensi followed the blonde detective into the building, and Callen followed them over the threshold, pulling the door firmly shut behind him.

Kensi automatically went over to the fireplace and lit it, carefully feeding the fire until it was a steady blaze, and the team dropped onto the comfortable couch and chairs that were near the fire, enjoying the heat it produced as their clothes dried. Outside the wind swirled, picking up in strength as the gentle drifts of snow become heavier. The storm had obviously arrived.


	2. Chapter 2

Several hours had passed since the storm had arrived, and Callen already knew that it was going to be a long time before they got rescued. The wind howled outside the cabin, and snow was falling heavily. Even if it wasn't long before help arrived it would feel like it had been a long time.

Kensi had gotten the fidgets, and was pacing. Callen knew that she was a person of action, and couldn't stand sitting down and doing nothing. Even when Kensi was relaxing she would be doing something, even if it was just watching the TV and drinking a beer, so he knew that it would difficult for her to be cooped up in a house that had no TV or radio.

Deeks, perhaps sensing his partners agitation and Sam's simmering anger which was directed at him and the noise he was making, had gone quiet, which Callen found be just as disturbing as Kensi's pacing. The former LAPD detective was sitting beside the window, his knees drawn up to his chest, gazing outside thoughtfully. Callen watched his little brother for a moment. He could tell from the way that Deeks was occasionally rubbing his arms, that the newest member of the team was cold and, though Deeks would never admit to it, scared.

Sam was tending to the fire, earning heated looks from Kensi as the former SEAL took over her job, which he ignored. Callen watched his partner as Sam walked back to the couch and dropped onto it with a sigh. Like Kensi, Sam was a person of action, but Sam's long years of military service had taught him to be patient, a skill that Kensi was still learning, and it showed in how Sam accepted the situation he was in, although he obviously didn't like it. G knew that his partner would be able to handle their predicament, and Callen knew that Kensi would cope, he had trained her himself after all, and she was used to the cooler temperature, as Callen knew that she went to the snow almost religiously every winter, even if it was only for a weekend.

G doubted that Deeks would have similar experience. Perhaps it was the slightly concerned glances that Kensi was shooting towards G's younger brother, but something told him that Kensi knew something was up with Deeks. Sam would have laughed had he known, but Callen automatically felt his over protectiveness towards his only living family member, which he always tried to keep hidden from everyone else, fighting to get free. G wanted to help Deeks with whatever the younger man was going through, but, the problem was, firstly, G had no idea what the problem with Deeks was, secondly, he didn't know how to do a thing about it, and thirdly, G wasn't sure how he could help his little brother without making Deeks not feel as though he was the weak link in the team. They all knew that he was, to a certain extent the least experienced one on the team, especially when it came to situations like these, but they all took care to never mention it, knowing it was a sore point for Deeks, even he was learning how to be an agent even faster than Callen and Kensi had.

Sam, however, had a solution, to the last of Callen's issues, getting to his feet and asking Kensi to go with him when he checked the basement for anything useful. Kensi nodded, grabbing the camera to document the things that had been moved, and the two headed down to the basement of the shack, leaving Callen and Deeks alone in the small room.

"You okay, Deeks,?" Callen asked softly, wincing as Deeks jumped and looked up at Callen.

"It's nothing, I'm just feeling the cold a bit, that's all," Deeks shrugged, turning his attention back to the window. Unable to resist the urge Callen reached out to feel his younger brother's skin to see if it was cold to the touch. Deeks jerked away from the contact, losing his balance and falling from his perch with a loud thud.

"Deeks," Callen's voice was filled with concern as he crouched beside his brother.

"I'm fine," Deeks replied. Callen simply quirked his eyebrow in response to Deeks' comment.

"Sam is right, you spend way too much time with Kensi...your bad habits are rubbing off on each other. Next thing we know Kensi will be coming in talking about how great the surf was, and you'll be eating doughnuts like they're about to go out of existence."

"Funny," Deeks muttered, slowly sitting up and rubbing his backside where he'd landed on it.

"What was that about?" Callen asked. Deeks sighed, knowing he was defeated. Callen was never going to let how he'd jerked from his older brother's hand away go

"I was talking to Kensi about some things before...and it brought some not so good memories back,"

"Our dad?" Callen asked, sitting down beside his younger half brother.

Deeks nodded, "and my mom too...She was going to take me to the snow...but that was the winter she got sick...the winter that she died in. I'd never been to the snow before...we never went as a family, and afterwards...afterwards I was busy with school and college, and the being a cop."

"You've never been to the snow?" Callen asked. He hadn't expected that bombshell. Sure, he'd expected for Deeks to have spent little time at the snow, but to have never been?

One winter, I was about seven or eight; dad took us on a holiday. I was that excited to be going somewhere different. You know me when I get excited. I talk. I hadn't really learned that if he told me to shut up, then I really should shut up, because I don't remember a great deal of that holiday, I can't even remember where we went. We were renting a cabin in the woods, kind of like this one, only less remote, and it wasn't snowing, but it was still cold. I spent most of the week we were there locked in the basement...which was made of concrete, and all I really remember was it being cold down there. I didn't have a blanket with me, so I slept in a box, covered in old newspapers I found. I got the flu real bad when we got home; I was in bed for weeks. After that...after that we didn't go on holidays again."

Callen sighed and shook his head, unable to believe the horrible things Deeks' father...their father, had done to the younger boy.

"I'm sorry," Callen said, "I shouldn't have asked."

Deeks shrugged, "I guess it doesn't matter, really. It was a while ago after all."

Callen hesitated, before putting his hand on Deeks' shoulder. Through the newer Agent's clothes Callen could feel Deeks shivering slightly. Callen fought the urge to roll his eyes. Naturally, given his lack of familiarity with snow, Deeks was wearing clothes that weren't entirely appropriate for alpine camping.

"Come on, you can have a blanket now, it's not like we're short in supply, and you can sit on the couch for now, so you'll be closer to the fire."

Deeks got up and grabbed the topmost blanket off the pile before sitting down on the couch, smiling as he gazed into the flickering flames. G had been right, it was much warmer there than where he had been sitting.

"So, G, where did you learn to live with the cold?"

G smirked, "Three words...Gibbs...tent...Russia."

Deeks laughed, the sound echoing down to the basement where Sam and Kensi were standing, counting bottles of water that they had found. Kensi smiled.

"I told you G would get through to him." Sam told her. Kensi rolled her eyes, but she was still worried about her partner. Deeks was, at times, very insecure. Kensi couldn't blame him, considering what he went through

"Yeah yeah, just don't go whining to me when Deeks get's all chatty again and starts to annoy you." She replied. The triumphant look on Sam's face fell as he realised what he had done. A pensive and angsty Deeks was a quiet Deeks, while a happy and cheerful Deeks was annoyingly vocal.

"What have I done?" Sam moaned to himself dramatically before he followed Kensi up the stairs to the cabin.

NCIS:LA

Night fell, and still the wind howled around the cabin as the snow fell heavily. All of the team had wrapped themselves in blankets, and were huddled up...Kensi and Deeks on the floor in front of the fire, and Callen and Sam on the couch. Kensi had found a pack of cards in a drawer, and they had occupied themselves by playing card games, chatting about various things. Eventually, though, they ran out of things to talk about, and they fell silent. Even Deeks was quiet, instinctively knowing from the looks Sam was sending him that if he got overly chatty the former SEAL would not think twice about shooting him...Callen's little brother or not.

"Alright, time for lights out," Sam eventually announced. Deeks rolled his eyes and whined.

"But I don't want to go to bed."

"Shut up Deeks, It's late, and I'm easier to live with if I've had plenty to sleep."

"He's right," Callen added, smirking at his partner.

"Besides, I figure if I've had enough to sleep, then maybe...just maybe, I'll get through this without shooting you."

"I'd listen to Sam, " Kensi said, grabbing another blanket from the pile and throwing it at Deeks, before grabbing another one for herself too, Sam threw the two younger agents cushions off the couch, and, still grumbling, Deeks made up a slightly comfortable bed. It wouldn't be the best sleep he had, but at least, with the fire going, it would be slightly warm. Kesni lay down on her carefully made bed, and huddled in on herself.

"Hey, Fern...Do you want to share body heat with me? I've heard it's the best way to stay warm when you're lost in the woods. "

There was a smacking noise, and Callen smirked as he watched Kensi smack Deeks in the face with her cushion.

"Shut up Deeks," she told him. Deeks laughed and lay down in his bed. Callen smiled at how the pair had automatically put their beds beside one another. No matter how much they pretended otherwise it was obvious to everyone how much they were in love with one another...Callen just wished they would hurry up and realise it before something happened to one of them. Kensi and Deeks both deserved to have a chance at a happy life with the one they loved.

Callen stretched out on the couch as Sam lay on the floor on Kensi's other side. It hadn't even been debated that Callen would get to sleep on the couch. He was known for sleeping roughly, and none of the others wanted to have to sleep beside him with the Agent constantly waking up and fiddling with something.

Lying on the couch, Callen listened as, one by one, his teammates' breathing evened out as they fell asleep. Unable to stop himself Callen grinned into the darkness as Kensi began to snore loudly. From the warm glow produced by the fire G could see Kensi, sprawled out, as she did when she was asleep. Deeks was sleeping on his side, his legs curled up towards his body, and his hair falling into his eyes. Callen rolled his eyes as his finger's itched to brush the blond hair back. Sam was sleeping on his stomach, his hand resting on his gun, which he had tucked down in between his and Kensi's bed, just in case it was needed. Callen smiled to himself, before he rolled over and slowly fell into a deep sleep.

NCIS:LA

Callen woke at dawn, although it was impossible to tell what time it was without looking at a clock. The snow was still falling outside, and the wind still howled, causing the windows to rattle. He'd woken up several times during the night, but had managed to convince himself to go back to sleep. Now, though, Callen was certain that he would not be able to drift back into a restful sleep. Letting out a long sigh, Callen rolled over, looking at his team mates to make sure that they were still there and had survived the cold night.

Sam hadn't moved throughout the night, but Kensi had rolled over towards Deeks, and the younger pair was curled together for warmth, with Deeks' hand draped over Kensi's slender waist. Callen winced, knowing that the gesture...however innocent it might have been, would earn Deeks a solid thwack in the arm from Kensi when she woke up...or possible even a knee in the place that no man wants to be kneed.

Letting out a sigh Callen sat up and climbed off the couch, creeping around his sleeping team mates and stoking up the fire, which had died down while the agents had slept to glowing embers. Once flames began to lick at the new pieces of wood Callen had put on the fire, and satisfied that the fire was in no danger of going out, Callen walked to their collection of food, finding a half empty canister of coffee. Sam had filled a couple of buckets with snow before the storm had hit ...which had now melted thanks to the heat produced by the fire, and Callen filled a kettle with the water, before returning to the fire and hanging the old, metal kettle over the flames to heat the water. Callen knew his team, and it would be a cold day in hell indeed if they managed to function on a cold morning without caffeine in their system. Even Sam, with his lectures about healthy eating, struggled without his morning caffeine hit.

Callen smiled as he thought of Gibbs' rule number 23. Never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live. Callen was pretty sure that the rule applied to all NCIS personnel in general...with the possible exception of Hetty, who functioned perfectly with tea, and Abby, who lived off her Caf Pow!

Satisfied that the water was warming, Callen crossed over to the bookshelf, picked out a book, and settled down to read in the dim light produced by the fire. It would only be a matter of time before the rest of the team woke up, and Callen was going to take advantage of the quiet while it lasted.

It was, perhaps, half an hour later, when G was drawn from his reading by the sound of Sam waking up. The former SEAL lifted his head sleepily, blinking up at G.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Almost seven," Callen replied in a soft voice. Sam glanced over at the sleeping Deeks and Kensi. He smirked.

"She's going to hit him when she wakes up," he whispered folding back his blankets and standing up, stretching until his back cracked.

"I know," Callen said..."You better prepare yourself...She might decide that it's your turn to sleep next to Deeks tonight." Sam shuddered, making his way to the kitchen to prepare a cup of strong coffee.

"In between her with her snoring, and him with his snuggling? I don't think so. Hetty will get us picked up before then...won't she?"

Callen shrugged. The storm that had them trapped had been predicted to last for a few days...but Callen knew that if there was a possible way to get them out early...Hetty would find it.

Even mother nature had nothing against their boss.

NCIS: LA

The day continued slowly on. Deeks seemed to have pulled himself out of his slump from the previous day, and was quite animated and chatty, something Callen was rather relieved about, not that he would say anything about it. Sam and Kensi, however, weren't so happy with the turnaround in Deeks' behaviour, and were both quietly wishing that he would calm down.

Neither of them, however, dared say anything too nasty to Deeks about it. They both knew that Deeks was sensitive, and would be hurt if he took a comment in the wrong way, and neither Sam nor Kensi wanted to be on Callen's bad side if that happened. If there was one thing that had changed about the team's dynamic ever since Callen and Deeks had discovered that they were brothers, it was that Callen was now borderline overprotective of Deeks, and if anyone...even a member of the team, (with the exception of Kensi punching or hitting Deeks when he was really annoying her), hurt the former detective physically or emotionally, then they got to deal with Callen in mother hen mode.

A fate that nobody desired.

The snow still fell heavily around the cabin. Callen was grateful the door opened inwardly, as the snow had begun to pile up around the edge of the cabin. It already covered the bottom few inches of the windows. The windows had fogged up from the cold, and Kensi and Deeks had taken to drawing on them, just for something to do, juvenile as it was. Sam raised his eyebrows in warning at Deeks when the younger agent began to draw what looked like a scene out of a playboy centrefold, or something along those lines, causing Deeks to smile guiltily and wipe off the offending images, before breathing on the glass to make it fog up again more quickly. Kensi had rolled her eyes, swatting Deeks in the arm again. Callen had cringed on his brother's behalf. The number of times Kensi had hit Deeks in the last few days...the blonde was going to end up with a very impressive bruise.

Still, Callen found himself thinking as he watched the two younger agents bantering with one another, Deeks' mood had certainly improved from the previous day, and if getting the occasional whack in the arm from Kensi when he said something cheeky, was part of that...who was Callen to get in the way?

NCIS: LA

The storm continued on through the night. Callen lay awake, listening to the roar of the wind through the trees, unable to bring himself to drift off into sleep. He had decided that it hadn't been fair on his teammates for him to be up on the couch, so he had joined the others on the floor, lying between Sam and Deeks., while Kensi lay on Deeks' other side, despite her whining about Deeks' snuggling .. From the light produced by the glowing embers of the fire G could see Sam, snoring softly, his hand resting on his gun, ready to deal with any attackers that dared to disturb his rest. Sam wasn't the only one snoring, with Kensi joining in on the act early on in the night.

Deeks, on the other hand, was still wide awake, just like Callen, lying in silence and waiting for sleep to take him. Callen could tell, just from the sound of his brother's breathing, that Deeks was still awake, and sure enough, Deeks spoke in a whisper.

"G...do you think Hetty will be able to rescue us tomorrow?" Deeks asked in a soft voice. Callen blinked, taken back by the tone of Deeks' voice.

"The storm was supposed to be easing off tomorrow, so it's likely?" Callen answered.

"Good...Monty will be pining without me. I hope someone's been able to check on him, and give him his dinner...I didn't think we were going to be gone overnight, so i wasn't able to arrange for my neighbours to look after him."

"Hetty will have organised something," Callen reassured Deeks, "And the moment she can Hetty will get us out of here...you know how much she hates it when we're not around...where we're not supposed to be. If you hadn't noticed Hetty likes to be in control."

"Kind of like Nell...maybe that's why Hetty's training Nell to be her replacement," Deeks speculated. G stiffened at the sound of the petite intelligence analyst's name, but managed to mask the response.

"Maybe," Callen shrugged. It was, however, a plausible theory, he mused to himself.

"I know that I always wanted to go to the snow," Deeks whispered, "But it kind of sucks once you've seen so much of it."

G simply shook his head at that, a smile spreading across his face. There was no doubt about his younger brother. Marty was a Surfer, and nothing would ever change that.

And that was exactly the way Callen liked it.

.


End file.
